Dear Jonah,

What a year you’ve had! After turning 2, you wrapped up your first year of preschool at Turning Sun, and even though it was a hard decision, Mommy and Mama decided to send you to The Nest the next year.

You spent the summer hanging out with Auntie Lea and Baby Billie while Mama and Mommy worked. In July, we took a trip to Maine to visit Lea’s parents and Aunt Kay (aka Nana Kay) and Aunt Colby. You rode on boats, trains, trolleys, planes, and in cars while we were there.

School started in August, and it was a tough transition for our family. You came home very hungry and tired and exhausted from being such a good kid all day. Eventually we learned to feed you right away, and to allow you time to play alone before dinner and bath time. It took you a while to become comfy with your new teachers and classmates. You’ve made some really good friends at school: Aleita, Reece, and Huck are your favorites. And your favorite teacher is, by far, Caroline. Your class is filled with wonderful kids who have really lovely parents, and our whole family has enjoyed getting to know everyone this year.

In September, we took a trip to Saint Augustine to play at the beach. Nana came with us, and you two had so much fun digging in the sand together.

Thanksgiving was spent with Mindy and Blair, Rebecca, Kelly, and Mark. We had such fun hanging out in Mindy and Blair’s backyard!

For Christmas, Grandpa Stu and Maymie came to visit! We ate good food, opened so many presents, had a fun mountain adventure for Mama’s birthday, and played and played and played!

2017 started off with a bang, and before we knew it, we were off to England to see Uncle, Emy, Everett, and Miles in England! Oh, what a wonderful time we had with them! You were such a great traveler on the flight over – you even slept for several hours while laying on Mommy! We played, and played, and laughed, and ate, and had such a good time with our sweet British family. You had a hard time sleeping in your own room at Uncle and Emy’s new house, so you slept with Mommy, and I slept in your room! How silly! I hope that doesn’t happen next time (for Mommy’s sake).

And now we’ve arrived in April, and it’s your birthday today. You’re fast asleep in your room (we hope), and we’ve had such a fun weekend with you. We had your birthday party at Brownwood Park yesterday morning, and so many of your friends came to play with you! Aleita, Reece, Preston, Deniz, C.C., Billie, Alice, and Anis were there to help you celebrate your third trip around the sun!

Today, on your actual birthday, we woke up and FaceTimed with Uncle, Emy, and Miles (Ev was napping). Then we went to Ria’s for birthday pancakes, which you wolfed down like you’d been starved for a week! After breakfast, we went to the Dogwood Festival and played on TWO playgrounds in between strolling around to see the artists. We saw Ricky-Stix and Andy-pants and Matt and Mads while we were there, and they all wished you the happiest of birthdays.

We had a low key post-nap afternoon, an easy dinner, a long bath, and a sweet bedtime reading new books. You are such a tiny love.

Tomorrow we’ll go to school with you for a tea and crumpets celebration with your classmates, and Mommy will read a book to the class about Tea Rex.

It’s hard to even know where to begin in describing what an interesting, funny, complex human being you’ve become in the past year. You are very normal when it comes to having big, strong feelings about life and its decisions. You are strong-willed/stubborn, but you can also be reasonable and easygoing. A lot of that depends on if you’re tired or hungry, which affects us all.

You like to watch shows, but we try to keep it to a minimum during the week, because sometimes it seems to make you grouchy. Your favorite toys are TRUCKS and CARS, and close seconds are legos and trains. You’re currently obsessed with construction vehicles, and you got a few for your birthday. Nana got you a big backhoe, and Grandpa and Maymie got you a big concrete truck. I hope we get a sandbox made for you this spring, so you can scoop and dig to your heart’s content.

Your favorite books are about Moses the cat, Mog the cat, Arthur, and The Family Book. You also like Go, Dog, Go!, which I find to be a less interesting read than the others you fancy.

I hope in the next year that we can guide you toward greater patience and generosity. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bug me a little that you don’t like talking to grown ups or kids about things, like asking questions or even saying hi and goodbye. I don’t want to force you to talk to people, because you’re your own person, but I do hope that you grow comfortable with others as you grow older, as it will serve you well to chat.

I hope you continue to feel excited and passionate about how things work, why things are the way they are, and all the other questions that float through your interesting mind. We want you to know and love the world, even the wrinkly bits that are hard to understand and even harder to explain to a 3-year old.

More than anything, we hope you continue to feel loved, supported, and cherished, because we love, support, and cherish you more than anything or anyone in the world, my little love. You are our greatest gift, and we are forever grateful for you.

All my love,

Mama